14 Feb 2018 Large inflows and strong January performance for Alternative UCITS
In line with the broader hedge fund market, Alternative UCITS funds profited from the rising volatility in fixed income and equity markets towards the end of the month. The LuxHedge Global Alternative UCITS index advanced with +0.93%, the largest monthly gain since October of 2015.
January is an especially interesting month to look at asset flows since most large institutions revise their strategic asset allocations. With fixed income yields at historical lows and elevated equity valuations, investors are increasingly looking for alternative return streams. Allocations to Alternative UCITS funds grew considerably and Assets under Management for the total universe advanced with 12BEUR (AUM +2.6%).
Investors increased their exposure to many liquid alternative strategies, most notably to explicit portfolio diversifiers such as Alternative Risk Premia (AUM +9%) and CTA & Managed futures funds (AUM +5%). Many investors also chased the double digit 2017 performance of Equity Long/Short Asia UCITS who enjoyed an asset increase of +8% in January.
Performance for Alternative UCITS funds was positive across almost all strategies with over 75% of funds posting a positive return.
Increased dispersion among equities benefited all Equity Hedge strategies with the LuxHedge Equity Long/Short Global index advancing +1.28% in January. Long/Short funds focussing on Asia continued their very steep upward path, advancing +3.47% for the month. Given strong liquidity positions of corporate balance sheets and a more business friendly regulatory and fiscal policy environment, Merger Arbitrage and Event driven funds also posted gains again: LuxHedge Event Driven UCITS Index: +1.04%.
Continuing where they left off second half of 2017, CTA funds posted an exceptionally strong month: LuxHedge CTA Managed Futures Index +3.42%. Also discretionary Global Macro funds benefitted from rising fixed income and equity volatility, advancing +0.94% in January.
